Skip to Navigation | Skip to Main Content | Skip to Site Map

MyFloridaHouse.gov | Mobile Site

Senate Tracker: Sign Up | Login

The Florida Senate

Go to Bill: HB 429


Downloads

CS/CS/CS/HB 429 — Purple Star Campuses

by Education and Employment Committee; Local Administration and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee; Secondary Education and Career Development Subcommittee; and Reps. Learned, Maney and others

This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.

Prepared by: Education Committee (ED)

The bill establishes the Purple Star Campus program to support military-connected children. Specifically the bill:

  • Defines a military student as a student enrolled in a school district, charter school, or a school or institution participating in a Florida educational choice scholarship program, who is a dependent of an active-duty or former member of the United States military that is the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, a reserve component of any of these branches of the military, or the Florida National Guard.
  • Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to establish the Purple Star Campus program that requires a participating school to at a minimum:
  • Designate a staff member as a military liaison.
  • Maintain a webpage on a school’s website which includes resources for military students and families.
  • Maintain a student-led transition program that assists military students in transitioning into the school.
  • Offer professional development training opportunities for staff members on issues relating to military students.
  • Reserve at least five percent of controlled open enrollment seats for military-connected students.
  • Authorizes the DOE to establish additional criteria to identify schools committed to supporting military families such as:
  • Hosting an annual military recognition event;
  • Partnering with a school liaison officer from a military installation;
  • Supporting projects that connect the school with the military community; and
  • Providing outreach for military parents and their children.
  • Authorizes a school to partner with a school district to procure digital, professional development, or other assistance necessary to implement the criteria of the Purple Star Campus program.

The bill also requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules to implement the Purple Star Campus program.

If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect on July 1, 2021. 

Vote: Senate 40-0; House 117-0